Eating out and "just getting a salad" routine....

[T-Bird]

I've seen this touted as the cure to being odd man out, but this just doesn't work for me.

Maybe I'm too tight with money - but it kills me to go out for a meal (which should be a treat) and get some lame @ss salad with iceberg lettuce and a few assorted veggies that I could make for $1 and spend $10-15 for the privilege of sitting with other who get a sumptuous meal for the same price. And then I need to go home and eat something else, lol!

I can make a totally awesome, totally organic salad for about $5 or less and it is healthy, full of vits, and a real meal.

Signed,

"Tired of bending this way and that and spending money on non-organic, likely minimally rinsed, lame-o salads" T-Bird

[mstrish]

I have brought food with me to resturants and just tell them I'm allergic to non-organic produce...I am to the point where I bring food and water with me everywhere I go and see it as I'm taking great care of my self. You have to look out for number one.

[jurence]

You are 100% right on price, and environment.

Welcome to the raw social scene.

[sozei]

I don't eat out ! :p

When I do go out to meet friends and stuff .... I ALWAYS consume a huge Green Smoothie before arriving.....and i always carry around fruit . There is no need to order an over-priced salad .....I am there to enjoy my friends... not the food ...or the atmosphere. :D

[kaleidoscopeeyes]

Instead of ordering a salad, just ask for a plate of vegetables. They cannot possibly charge more than $3.00 for that! If you add a side of avocado, it'll be about $5.00 total, including tax. While not exactly satisfying, it's better than paying $10+ for something that isn't filling, either. And bring along some nuts or dried fruit to add!

[MrsJohnnyG]

Ugh, you're not kidding... restaurant salads in my neck of the woods are horrific. Puny, bland, white, pesticide-laced iceberg lettuce with some bitter-tasting, non-organic, pale tomato slices, and they usually forget that I asked for no cheese or croutons so I have to pick out little shreds of nasty-looking cheddar and chemical-laden croutons. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!

[blizzful7]

I worry about that too.

This reminds me of something that happened to me at a steakhouse in Texas, USA. I asked the server if the salad was made with iceberg lettuce. She said, "I don't think so. I saw the cook take it out of the refrigerator, not the freezer." It took every muscle in our being for my friends and I not to laugh until she left the table.

[T-Bird]

Too funny Blizz!


Good idea on the plate of veggie. I will try it out!

[Charov]

I hate going out to eat now, I can't afford buying a salad for the same amount that I could make 5 salads at home for example. It's frustrating, but it is the social thing to do, so one kind of has to in order to not seem like a jerk.


And my friends do not plan to go out eating, they suddenly say "hey, let's eat here" and then I have had nothing prepared to bring with me.

That sucks!! And for some reason, I fell that the salads in restaurants and McDonalds and stuff, just is not real salad.. I feel like even the salad is junk food!


That's it, when I win the lottery one day, I am starting a McRawnold's food chain. Sick of chasing after REAL FOOD!! It should not be this hard!

[kaleidoscopeeyes]

McRawnold's! I love it :D

[Charov]

Oh you better believe it baby!!!!!! McRawnold's is coming your way!!! :D

[artgirly4]

This thread is so very great. Even for me to go to a raw place and buy something I can make myself(as I have been at this two years) is horrific for me.

I used to be thrilled to buy stuff as I was not so happy to make it myself.

I recently bought a salad on the way to the beach at a raw place. I was not feeling like much else there. It cost $9 and it was a bowl of romaine, tomato wedges, some rawmesan cheeze and flakes of nori(which I picked all off cuz it makes me sick)

I thought about the $3.99 bag of romaine andhow much salad that would make. And the mesculin or darklocal greens in the HFS!!!!

No more for me. Save mu bux n go to Grezzos wooohoooooo. REAL RAWKIN RAW FOODS!!!

[Aleesha Sattva]

I'm blessed. I have great places near me who are willing to cater to whatever I want. They make me the biggest organic salads with cranberries, dates... cashews... mmmm soooo yummy. I bring my own raw cashews instead of theirs... but it's an amazing salad. I usually have a salad appetizer to start and then a salad for dinner. That way I'm very full when I leave.

Another place will put every raw veggie they have on a plate for me and bring me some balsamic vinegar and olive oil... it's my raw stir fry!!! They usually put it on a bed of romaine.

I just let restaurants know what I want and then allow them to accomodate me. If they don't have what I want... I find out what they have and go from there :)

A smile gets me soooooooooooooooooooo far... and I tend to shine them a LOT!

[Ocean]

Yeah, I bring my own food. I've been raw before for months at a time (just getting into it again due to health reasons), and when we went anywhere I made sure to bring food.

We went to a hockey game that my husband's company gave free tickets too (it was interesting, I'd never been to one), and I made some almond/coconut/date treats and brought in a large baggie that I stuck in my purse. They were amazing, and looked so much better than everyone else eating the soda/hotdogs.

For movie theatres or whatever, I just put stuff in my purse or the diaper bag (although our youngest is 2 now, so we won't be using it too much longer!). I always figure if they asked, we can tell them my husband is diabetic (which he is).

You can always call in advance, explain that you are on a specific diet and make sure they restaurant won't have a problem with it. They shouldn't, because if they say no, they are losing the other customers in your party who would have purchased food from them.

Take care,
Ocean

[Gaius]

I usually just get a salad since there's great restaurants in my city. I get weird looks but hey, it works.

[Veganelle]

I've only been to restaurants with non-raw non-vegan friends twice since becoming raw three months ago. At the first place I took one look at the menu, knew there was nothing there that I was remotely interested in so I just didn't order anything. Afterwards I walked half a block away to a vegetarian place that I like and ordered a big salad with their raw tahini dressing.

It was the first time I've simply made the decision not to order something just for the sake of ordering "something" (I've been a vegan for 22 years so am used to going to restaurants that don't cater to me), and it felt very liberating.

The next time was at a pub for a co-worker's birthday dinner and I was happy to see there were several interesting salads on the menu. Each one contained something non-raw or non-veg, so I just made substitutions (hold the egg and roasted tomato, add some sliced avocado, etc), and ended up with a pretty good meal for only $6.

[Charov]

What about dressings? They sure as hell do not have anything organic in the restaurants here..

[juliebove]

I have never paid $10-$15 for a salad. I do remember a place in CA where they had organic salads for $8. I thought that was too much. It wasn't a fancy place. Here, most salads are about $3. That's for a dinner salad. Most places will serve you a plate of sliced tomatoes. Some places have fresh fruit. Yeah, it's probably not organic.